William john sleep



W. J. SLEEP.

(No Model.)

FENGB POST.

No. 557,443. Patented Mar. 31, 1896.

W/TNESSES:

.GRAHAM. FNOTGl-miQWASHINGmlRC,

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

\VILLIAM JOHN SLEEP, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND OLIVER PERRY BLAND, OF SAME PLACE.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,443, dated March 31, 1896.

Application filed June 10, 1395- To all whom it may concern.-

'Be it known that 1, WILLIAM JOHN SLEEP, of Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved Fence-Post, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in posts, and especially to an improvement in fence-posts, and it has for its object to provide a post especially adapted for carrying the runners of wire fences; but it may likewise be employed for other purposesas, for example, for the uprights of an arbor, a summer-house, or an equivalent structure.

A further object of the invention is to 0011- struct such posts in a durable, economic, and simple manner and to provide for the quick adjustment of the wire strands or runners to the post and likewise provide for a convenient and speedy means of securing the runners in adjusted position.

Another object of the invention is to con struct the posts in such manner that they will be provided with means for draining off any water that may accumulate therein, since the post is to be made hollow in the interest of lightness.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front view of the improved post. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. I is a side elevation of a corner-post. Fig. 4 is a view of the corner-post, taken at the side opposite that shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a slightly-modified form of the post. Fig. 6 is a rear view of the said modified form of the post. Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 8 is a like section taken practically on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5.

In carrying out the invention the post A (shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and A) is of substantially box-like construction and is usually and preferably made of metal, although other suitable material maybe employed. The post Serial No. 562,319. (No model.)

may be polygonal or of any desired shape in cross-section-as, for example, it may be made from tubing or piping. Ordinarily, however, when employed for ornamental purposes the post is rectangular in cross-section and is provided with any desired number of longitudinal openings 10 to reduce its weight as much as possible without detracting from its strength, and in that portion of the post which is to enter the ground the slots 10 are preferably omitted.

A binding strip or bar 11 is placed parallel with one face of the post, the outer or front face ordinarily, and this binding strip or bar 6 5 has a number of transverse channels or grooves 12 produced in its inner face, or in that surface which is directly opposed to the post. These grooves or channels may be of any desired cross-sectional shape and may be located at any desired intervals apart; but ordinarily they are placed sufficiently close together to admit of a quite close adjustment of the strands or runners of the wire of a fence, as well as a wide spacing thereof. The bind- 7 5 ing strip or bar 11 is held in place and is made to bear more or less firmly against the post through the medium of bolts 13, which are passed ordinarily through openings at the top and bottom of the binding strip or bar and through corresponding openings made horizontally in the post A. The heads of the bolts are preferably made to engage with the binding strip or bar, and the opposite or threaded ends of the bolts are provided with 8 5 lock-nuts 14 of any approved character, thumb or wing nuts being those which are to be preferred in order that the nuts may be manipulated by the hand of the operator without the assistance or need of wrenches or similar tools.

The cap 15 of the post is preferably made removable therefrom, and the posts may be and sometimes are provided with longitudinal slots 16 in their upper edges. These slots are particularly produced in posts that are to be employed for the framework of an arbor or for the framing of a summer-house or similar structure, since the cross-bars or spanningbeams will be received in the slots 16 of the posts and secured therein by means of bolts, :00 screws or equivalent fasteningdevices.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the post A shown is substantially identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; but it is particularly used as a corner-post, the post shown in Fig. 1 being an sundry of their side pieces, being adapted to receive and hold the upper ends of braces, the lower ends whereof are entered in the ground.

The box-like posts just described are each provided with one or more drainage openings 19 at or near the ground-line to permit any water that may accumulate in the posts to readily pass out therefrom, thus obviating the possibility of the posts being damaged by water freezing therein.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the post A is that which is particularly adapted for use in fencing farmlands and the like and is simpler and more economic than that shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Under this modified form of post it is substantially T-shaped in cross-section, presenting a face member 20 and a flange member 21, extending the length of. the face member and about centrally thereof. The bindingstrip 11 is similar to that heretofore described and engages with the face member of the post, and the bolts 13 are passed through enlargements 22 made in the flanged member of the post A as is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the enlargements being made in the nature of sleeves to render the post sufficiently strong where the bolts pass through to permit the bolts to be secured to place or screwed up very tight, and in order that a base-board maybe used in connection with a wire fence the post just above the ground-line may have a number of openings 2% made therein, as illustrated in Fig. 6, and these openings are to be plugged with wood in order to receive the nails or screws passed through the baseboard for the purpose of attaching the same to the post or posts.

The wires or runners of the fence are passed between the posts and the binding strips or bars 11, and these bars or plates are loosened sufficiently to allow the wires to be carried to any of the channels or grooves in the plates that may be determined upon, and after the wires or runners are in their proper positions the binding-plates are made to firmly clamp the posts by screwing up the bolts 13 tightly through the medium of the lock-nuts 14. I do not confine myself to material, size, or to the cross-sectional contour of the post.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a fence-post, a binding-strip adapted for contact with the said post and having transverse grooves or channels formed on its contact-face, and means for securin g the hinding-strips to the post, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with a fence-post, of a binding-strip having one of its faces provided with transverse grooves or channels, the said face being adapted for contact with one of the faces of the said post,bolts passing through the binding-strip and post, and lock-nuts carried by the bolts for holding the strip in contact with the post, as and for the purpose specified.

3. A fence -post of box-like construction provided with longitudinal slots or openings, and having one or more drainage-openings located at or near the ground-line and communicating with the interior of the post, the said post being provided with undercut clownwardly-inclined brackets to receive the upper ends of braces, and a binding-strip held in engagement with one of the faces of said post and provided with transverse grooves on its contact-face for securing wires to said post, as and for the purpose set forth.

\VILLIAM JOHN SLEEP.

\Vitnesscs:

T. A. BELL, .T. A. MoN'rcoMERY. 

